China Premier Visits India, Former Enemy

ByReutersDecember 10, 1991

BEIJING
— ICY relations between China and India look set to thaw with a fence-mending visit by Chinese Premier Li Peng to New Delhi this week.Mr. Li will be the first Chinese prime minister to visit India since 1960. Border trade between the world's two most populous countries was suspended and consulates in Bombay and Shanghai closed when a border war erupted in 1962. China's ambassador to India, Cheng Ruisheng, said the giant neighbors shared the view that economic development was the top priority for developing nations, followed by human rights. China has been sharply criticized for human rights abuses after its 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. India is under scrutiny for alleged human rights violations in its northern, Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir state, riven by a separatist movement, and in Punjab, where it is fighting Sikh separatists. Diplomats said the complexity of the divisive border issue meant it would take time to resolve. India says China occupies 14,500 square miles of its territory, and China says India's Arunachal Pradesh state covers 34,750 square miles of Chinese land. India is concerned about the flow of Chinese arms into neighboring Burma, whose military government New Delhi opposes.